Personal desktop computers typically include a main processor housing, a monitor and speakers separate from the housing and input devices such as a keyboard and mouse which are also separate from the housing. Cables are used to connect the monitor, printer, speakers and input devices to the processor housing. Power cables are also required to connect the processor housing, and usually the monitor, to a power source. Often, a printer, scanner and possibly other peripherals such as an external memory device are also connected to the processor housing and require dedicated power cables. It is thus a recognized fact that there are a relatively large number of cables required to enable use of a desktop personal computer system.
Since the components of the personal computer system are typically spread out over a desktop surface, the communication cables leading from each component to the processor housing are invariably placed in an unorganized manner and the power cables from each powered component to the external power supply are similarly placed in an unorganized manner.
Various devices have been developed which create passages for or enclose multiple cables associated with a desktop personal computer system in order to organize the cables and reduce the unsightly appearance of cables of a personal computer system. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,098 (Kazaks) describes an electronic cable organizer made of a single piece of material with longitudinally extending side edges which are releasably connected together. In use, the piece of material is opened at the side edges and cables are placed in the material so that when the side edges are subsequently connected together, the cables are enclosed by the material. Each end of the body includes reinforced portions through which cables can pass. The body also includes ingress/egress apertures between the ends through which the cables can be passed into the body or out of the body, e.g., to connect to a peripheral or to lead into an end of another body (see FIG. 18).
Other prior art which describes cable or wire organizers includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,610 (Textoris), U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,896 (Fortsch), U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,562 (Pierce et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,136 (Santucci et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,640,912 (Diffrient), U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,201 (Diffrient), U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,203 (Glass), U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,508 (Deimen et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,037,538 (Brooks) and Des. 251,779 (Wolff et al.)